ARTS Wednesday, January 16, 1991 The Michigan Daily Page 5 Ethnic folk-pop hits big 'at Ark by Greg Baise Nowadays it's easy for musicians to embody the many pluralities of culture and integrate them into their music; basically, all one has to do is grow up in America, watch a lot of television and occasionally listen to the radio. 3 Mustaphas 3 didn't grow up in America. They probably didn't watch a lot of television in their Balkan youths, either. Nights in the Mustapha house- hold probably found the budding musicologists sitting around the shortwave receiver and listening to broadcasts from around the world. Perhaps later the Mustaphas would go out to do some amateur field work, hearing, observing and experi- encing the rich folk music heritage of eastern Europe. Since their humble beginnings in i. the Balkan town of Szgerely, 3 >rMustaphas 3 have moved "Forward .In All Directions," which is their ,motto. The various Mustapha record- Cings show that this movement is not just cartographic, either - it moves chronologically, too. For the infor- t mation of those of you who have more important things to do (which, I would suspect, would be a lot of tyou) than read the Worldbeat column " in Spin or listen to NPR or check -up on the extracurricular activities of .Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, world music is pretty popular here in America in a somewhat big way. It's an '80s/'90s thang; there's some- thing in it for everybody (even colo- nial exploiters); thus, all should un- derstand. Plus, it's part of your her- itage, Earther. So 3 Mustaphas 3's music is 'timely, but also timeless. The di- verse traditions which they inter- Eyuphuro Mama Mosambiki Realworld/ Virgin Paul Simon's latest release, Rhythm of the Saints, doesn't swing with the same one-world planetary vibes that Graceland did because of its failure to translate the soothing lyricism of Brazilian Portuguese into an English-speaking brooding world view of middle aged alienation. ~Although it doesn't deal with mid- life crises and Peter Pan syndromes, the first widely available record from ,;Mozambique is the album that Paul wanted to make. Avoiding the doom and gloom 'pessimism of living in a nation bru- talized by civil war and famine that *more self(socially)-conscious art rockers might dwell in, Eyuphoro sticks to an issue that hits home on a more personal level - male and female roles in a centuries-old patri- archy. With the exception of the lead track ("Samukhela") about a man ,who longs for the halcyon glory days of old, Mama Mosambiki con- ,erns itself with presenting both sides of a conflict that has suffocated . traditional villages' economic power base, i.e. women, for far too long. The two leaders of the band (male guitarist Gimo Abdul Remane and female Zena Bakar) share the vocal duties and battle over classic terrains of gender control. Songs like "Mwanuni" ("My bird has broken the heart/ And left forever... A bird? No! It's my lover/ It's not a bird- it's my half-self"), "Akatswela (Love Is So Bewildering)" and "Kihiyeny (Leave Me Alone)" depict a shaky re- lationship of unconscious passion and desperate pleading. It is this tension that makes the gorgeous harmonies soar above both the music's similarities to Brazilian Tropicalismo and the linguistic and cultural boundaries blocking Western ears. Both voices bear great similar- ity to Youssou N'Dour's fusion of Idiots everywhere! So what else is new? Not Without My Daughter dir. Brian Gilbert by Mike Kuniavsky There are some films that are just damn timely. This, unfortunately, does not mean that they're any good. As you read this on Wednesday, January 16, 1991, there may be Tomahawk cruise missiles with fuel- air warheads blasting away at the population of Iraq. There may have already been several dozen American casualties who have died in real conflict (unlike the ninety-some "ooops!" casualties that have already been killed by stupidity). Who knows, maybe some war-crazy yahoo captain has already fired off one of the 400-some nuclear warheads sitting on Allied ships in the gulf? You may be reading this as you wait to cross the bridge to Canada, as a last momento of your until-now peaceful college life. In any case, you may not at all be in the mood to take in a movie - and you probably shouldn't - but should you decide to entertain yourself and be politically informed simultaneously don't go see Not Without My Daughter. It's not that there's something inherently horrible about the film - unless you consider narrow- mindedness horrible - but there's really nothing in the film worthwhile, either from a political stance or a human one. It would have been an okay story to read about in a footnote, and it may have made a good firsthand source for a political study of the time, but it's not a movie - it's a long, drawn- out piece of propaganda. Here's the story: in 1984 in beautiful Alpena, Michigan, Betty Mahmoody, her Iranian ex-patriot doctor husband Moody and their daughter Mahtob live a virtually idyllic life with only one complication: American animosity to Iranian citizens. This racism makes Moody uncomfortable and casts a shadow on their life, which is further complicated by Moody's Iranian family (which he hasn't seen in 10 years) begging him to come back. Under the pretense of visiting his family for two weeks, Moody convinces his family to go to Iran with him, at which point he tells Betty that they're going to stay forever. The rest of the film is devoted to how Betty gets out with her daughter, whom she does not have custody over in Iranian laws. Basically, the film is a collection of scenes about how the Iranian people are primitive, brutal, stupid and totally alien. Now there isn't anything wrong with showing a one- sided view of a culture; this has always been true of any cultural description (just ask a philosophy student about the meaning of "objectivity"), but for a film that is designed to support good, wholesome, American values, this is pretty hypocritical. I'm not one to deny that there are aspects of Middle-Eastern culture which are more sexist, ethnocentric, intolerant and stubborn than their Western counterparts. But the fact of the matter is that a large number of people believe in this culture and choose to live in this culture. As members of a supposedly more tolerant society, one of the things that we're supposed to believe in, is tolerance for the beliefs of others (even though many of us, especially our leaders, obviously don't understand this) and the film, by making as one-sided a statement as this, is definitely not following that policy. Enough preaching. There's not much more to say about the film it's not very well-made (it could, and probably should, have been a third- rate TV movie) and Sally Field is in it. It's just profoundly disappointing that, while claiming to be intelligent and rational, we can simultaneously be as narrow and short-sighted as our leaders seem to be acting. Go kick your own ass, George. NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER is being shown at Briarwood and Showcase. Some critics think that there are things more pretentious about the current popularity of world music than just the spelling of "Mustapha." Some critics would rather eat a hamburger than a falafel, too. twine stretch back through time. At one moment the Mustaphas might sound like Moroccan performers from the turn of the century. The next moment they might sound like they're covering a song that's at No. 26 on the Japanese charts. In all, 3 Mustaphas 3 might find its ideal venue at some overpriced megapoli- tan bar in a future Cairo, circa 2013. Western influences creep into the Mustapha machinery, too. On 1989's Heart of Uncle record, 3 Mustaphas 3 does a song called "Trois Fois Trois" in two versions: a city version and a country version. The city version integrates some- thing that sounds like Vaudeville with something that sounds like soca. The country version features the melodeon of Niaveti Mustapha and the banjo of Hijaz Mustapha as well as a clarinetist and somebody playing the tambora of the Domini- can Republic, which all work to- gether to, give "Trois Fois Trois" the ambience of German beerhall music, perhaps in some rural pocket of Germany with a strong Algerian population. Soup of the Century, 3 Mustaphas 3's latest record, finds even more ingredients added to the Mustaphan broth. Alongside the al- ways conspicuous Hindi vocals and cultural crossbreedings of "This City Is Very Exciting!" is the raucous "Japanese/American" vocal of Sabah Habas Mustapha (Ahpatsum?) on "Soba Song." As usual, anyone de- siring something that sounds like music from the Middle East won't be disappointed, either. 3 Mustaphas 3 occupies some kind of musical and cartographical no-person's land, far away from both the meticulously authentic record- ings of the Nonesuch Explorer Se- ries and the ersatz world beats of Can's Ethnological forgery Series and Skeleton Crew's "fake folk mu- sic." After supposedly being smug- gled out of Szgerely in refrigerators, 3 Mustaphas 3 have gone on to lead a comfortable existence based in London, integrating music from around the world. 3 MUSTAPHAS 3 display the wares of their world at the Ark tonight. Tickets are $10.75 at the and in advance from TicketMaster (plus the evil service charge). I Great artists had poor sight Scorpions Crazy World PolyGram When I heard the first single, "Tease Me Please Me," off the Scor- pions' latest release, Crazy World, I was terrified and ill. The song, well, it was pretty bad. The lyrics are trite ("Tease me/ Please me/Before I have to go") and the music is totally commonplace, equal in ingenuity to the "music" coming from the vile flood of pseudo-heavy metal bands. Fearing what the remainder of the album must be like, I asked myself, "Are the Scorpions turning into one of those bands that releases new LPs just to ignite interest in their old al- bums-the ones with the good songs on them-in order to rekindle their forgotten greatness?" Well... yes and no. Songs like "To Be With You In Heaven," "Don't Believe Her" and "KicksAfter Six" make you hope their guitars will explode and that the Scorpions will never be heard from again. In "Kicks After Six," lead vocalist Klaus Meine sings, "Good girls get their kicks after six... she wants what she never had/ All the things that make a good girl bad." It serves to equate them with the giants of sexist heavy metal songs, Warrant ('CherryPie"). There are also the typical "Scorpions" songs. "Wind Of Change" is not cutting-edge, but vintage Scorpions. The solemn whistling at the end adds to its ap- peal. "Hit Between the Eyes" has aI definite Scorpions signature as well. The most remarkable track on the album, by far, is "Send Me An An- gel." The release of this song is what would make this album memo-; rable. It immediately grabs you and doesn't let go. The lyrics are some- what banal, but Klaus' voice trans- forms them into celestial messages.; The overall ,theme of Crazy World is a good one. The Scorpions are addressing the rapidly altering state of the world (along with some illustrations of lust thrown in). However, because of the form these points are delivered in, their purpose is often lost. Perhaps this is why they come across best in their bal- lads and when they take a more deli- cate approach. You can't argue with the music: heavy guitar licks with hard drums and Klaus' screeching vocals. It's the Scorpions - like it or not. -Kim Yaged by Julie Komorn laude Monet became blind due to cataracts. Georgia O'Keeffe suffered diseased retinas. Van Gogh has been attributed with glaucoma, while El Greco may have had astigmatism. Clearly these eye diseases must have influenced the work of these well-known artists in some way, but how? Ophthalmologist and art histo- rian Dr. James G. Ravin will be giving a lecture tonight titled Eye Diseases of Famous Artists in which he will offer insight into the effects of these disorders. This practice of studying the ill- nesses of artists has been described by aesthetically minded doctors as "Diagnosing the Canvas." One way doctors identify the illness is by considering the details in an artist's work, like color choice, perspective and subject matter. In another method, doctors study abnormal subjects in the artwork and then offer their explanations through medical diagnosis. The effects of Monet's eye- clouding cataracts and its possible relationship to his impressionistic Water Lily series is one of the many studies conducted by Ravin. He says Monet was diagnosed as having cataracts in 1912 at the age of 72, but that the disorder probably affected him much earlier. "You can see the gradual work change in his work," said Ravin in a recent New York Times article. "There is a gen- eral fuzziness and muddiness and the details became lost. The colors be- came increasingly yellow-brown in Daily Arts needs a new Books Editor if you have background in books and are interested in being Books editor Telephone 763-0379 for more information cast, which is the color range that people with cataracts see. They lose their ability to see violet and blue." After becoming legally blind in 1922, Monet had cataract surgery which renewed his ability to see blue tones. In the last four years of his life he completed his Water Lily cycle, which glows with shimmer- ing blues and violets. Degas was another artist affected by eye problems - a gradual loss of vision in the center of his retina. "If you look at his early paintings, they're done with precision and they're fairly detailed," said Ravin in the same article. "His later works don't show that at all, and we tend to appreciate him for his looseness of style." A true blue, Ravin received his B.A. in history of art and an M.D. and M.S. in ophthalmology, all from the University. His lecture. will give us vision into the effects of trauma, aging and other eye dis- eases and their many influences on the significant artists of the past. Dr. Ravin will give his lecture on EYE DISEASES OF FAMOUS ARTISTS tonight at Ann ArbovrArt Association, 117 W. Liberty, at 7:30 p.m. I. You Mc Best P But Hi ey Think That Your rofessor is Good-- ow About "Outstanding'? o1J Burnham Associates 543 Church Street (313) 761-1523 CLOSE TO CAMPUS WE PAY HEAT! On March 11 in Rackham auditorium, one of the University of Michigan's most dynamic undergraduate professors or lecturers will receive the 1991 Golden Apple Award For Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching and a monetary stipend, as well as the chance to deliver his or her "last lecture"- a lecture presented as if it were the instructor's last lecture ever delivered at the University of Michigan. We need your help, selecting the University's brightest and most inspiring lecturers. If you have a Michigan professor or lecturer in mind who has taught undergraduates that you would like to nominate, please answer the following questions, staple them to this ad and submit to. the Central Campus Information Center (CIC) in the Union, or the North Campus Information Center (NCIC) in the North Campus Commons between January 1 1-22. Nomination for the 1991 Golden Apple Award For Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Name of Professor: Subject(s) Taught: University Department, School or College: If this instructor is teaching this term, where and when are his/her classes taught?: 1001 S. FOREST 848 TAPPAN 543 CHURCH ST: 610 S. FOREST 905 CHURCH ST 1506 GEDDES 515 WALNT... SECURITY BLDGS LAUNDRY FACILITIES ALSO: FURNISHED PARKING ON-SITE MANAGEMENT 1' I 1, 2, 3, BEDROOM APARTMENTS SATURDAY 11:00-3:00 CALL OR COME SEE US TODAY! You can make a difference and Earn Credit!